Treatment of oil cake



March 24, 1942- o. s. ANDERSON 2,277,055

TREATMENT OF .OIL CAKE Filed June 28, 1940 INVENTOR FIG-2 ORLIN s. ANDERSON BY $4 M ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 24, 1942 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE- 2,277,055 TREATMENT or on. CAKE Orlin S. Anderson, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to The V. D. Anderson Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 28, 1940, Serial No. 342,857

9 Claims.

This invention relates to the treatment of oil cake such as is produced from proteinaceous material when passed through a continuously operating high pressure screw press.

The object of the invention is to provide improved method and apparatus for so treating the cake discharged from the press as to stabilize Further objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section on the line l-l, Fig. 2, illustrating ap-- paratus suitable for use in carrying out the invention; and Fig. 2 is a detail sectional elevation, partly diagrammatic, on the line 2-2, ,Fig. 1.

The invention may be applied for use in connection with the treatment of any kind of proteinaceous material, such as cottonseed, fiaxseed or other vegetable seeds, copra and other materials. To extract the 'oil from such a material it is commonly passed through a continuously operating high pressure screw press, the worm or worms of which, cooperating with the perforate barrel, subjecting the material to a gradually increasing pressure which may amount to several thousand pounds per square inch, and which pressure squeezes the material, compresses it and expels the oil, so that the final product discharged from the press is a more or less dry oilfree cake.

Usually the oil-free cake emerges from-the press in the form of fragments one or a few inches in width and a quarter of an inch or so thick of a hollow cylindrical shell. The cake fragments are at a relatively high temperature, due to the very heavy pressure imposed upon them and the friction to which the material is subjected in its travel through the press, a temperature which may reach or even exceed 200 to 300 F. Not only has the oil been removed or reduced to a low value, but the moisture content has also been reduced to a low value, say not more than about two per cent.

Such oil-free cake, aftergrinding the fragments to fine form, is usable for cattle food and for other purposes usually entailing its stacking or storage either in bags or in bulk in large quantities. Issuing as it does from the press at a temperature of, say 200 to 300 F., it has been found that the material is likely to be harmed or even destroyed by spontaneous internal combustion. That is to say, if, when the material issues from the press, it is immediately collected or stored in bulk in large quantities, the heat in the material spontaneously begins to produce decomposition, with a charring or burning effect. This effect may originate at the center and spread outwardly to the outer limits of the mass. It produces a charring effect either injuring the material or absolutely destroying it and making it unfit for further use.

Further, as a general rule the moisture content of the material as it issues from the press, say two per centmoisture, is regarded as too low, so that it is desirable from several standpoints to increase the moisture content so that it becomes stable at approximately twelve per cent. This is usually accomplished by conducting the material by way of a conveyer or the like, before or after grinding, past spray nozzles which rain water down upon it, the excess draining ofi, or by some suitable or equivalent method.

According to the present invention, without any necessity of first conducting it by conveyers over long distances or spreading it out in thin layers to cool it, and then conducting it to a spray device for moistening it, and hence without delay, I subject the material simultaneously to both cooling and moistening steps by employing an apparatus organized with and forming a part of the screw press, so that the product of the cooling and moistening apparatus already has i been stabilized with the desired moisture con storing it in bulk in piles, or by bagging it and storing the bags, as may be desired.

Referring to the drawing, I illustrate at I a typical high pressure screw press, which may be of any suitable or desired form and construction, the details of which are immateriaL. For example, the press may be of the form illustrated,

described and claimed in eitherof the prior Patents No. 1,971,632, granted August 28, 1934, or No. 1,780,218, granted November 4, 1930, to R. T. Anderson for Feeding mechanism for presses, to either or both of which reference may be had if desirable or necessary.

For the purpose of this application it is only necessary to say that the material from which oil is to be extracted, such as cottonseed or other proteinaceous material, passes through a conditioner 2 from which it is delivered by a down perature tends to rise.

spout 3 to a continuous 'screw press including a rotatable. shaft carrying worm flights (not shown) within the chamber of a perforated barrel 4 through which the material is forced under pressure to be discharged through an outlet conduit 5.

According to the present invention I organize with the screw press combined cooling and moistening means, shown in this application as a vat or tank 6 open at its top and into the open top of,

which the cake fragments, indicated at 1, are discharged from the outlet 5. Said fragments fall upon a flexible conveyer belt of suitable form, indicated conventionally at 8, and traveling over sprockets 9, one of which may be continuously power driven. This belt or conveyor carries the material lengthwise of the vat while immersed in the-cooling water I therein, the far end of the belt traveling upwardly and discharging the material over the upper sprocket shaft 9 to a, delivery spout II, by way of which it may be delivered to any suitable device, such as a conveyor for conducting it to grinding apparatus (not shown) or the car or lorry l2 illustrated,by which it may be conveyed to the grinder or to storage.

The cooling water It] in the vat of course immediately absorbs heat from the cake fragments when they are immersed therein, so that its tem- Therefore, I preferably provide the apparatus with means for continuously cooling the water therein. For that purpose it may be circulated from the vat 6 to any suitable cooling or refrigerating mechanism or device, to be returned to the vat in any suitable manner. The cooling device may be of any suitable form and is shown conventionally, by way of illustration and not in any sense of limitation, as a series of spray nozzles 13 communicating with a pipe coming from a pump I5, the suc-. tion side of which communicates by a pipe IS with the reservoir 6. The spray nozzles l3 spray the water out in the atmosphere where it cools as it falls to a collecting tank I], from which it may be returned to the vat 6 by pump l8 and pipe l9.

Thus, by continuous circulation and re-circulation, the cooling water is maintained at a temperature sufficiently low so that the cake fragments, during their passage through vat 6, are

cooled to a temperature at which they cannot char or burn.

Also, during passage of the cake fragments through the water containing vat 6 they absorb moisture, The quantity of moisture so absorbed may be adjusted by varying in any manner the period during which the fragments are in contact with the water or, in other words, by the distance or by the speed of travel of the conveyor belt 8. Usually immersion of the fragments in the water bath for forty to forty-five seconds will increase the moisture content, in the case of cottonseed cake, from two per cent to the desirable ten or twelve per cent. Shorter immersion reduces the water increase and longer immersion increases it. And, of course, different materials may require different periods of immersion on account of the variations in their density, porosity, texture and other factors, as will be quite apparent.

Of course, a single cooling and moistening vat or trough may service more than one screw press, the drawings showing two presses, one on each a single cooling labor involved in taking care of the oil-free cake side of the tank 6, although four or even more 7 discharged from high pressure screw presses. As an immediate step, without material loss of heat, upon discharge of the material from the press it is automatically immersed in a cooling water bath, which reduces its temperature so that it is not likely to char or burn. At the same time, the moisture content is increased so that it is stabilized at any desired value, excess draining off after the material has been discharged from the water tank, as when it is in the car l2. Long conveyors such as' are ordinarily used for cooling the material, and their consequent cost and space, are dispensed with. Asa consequence, the material, without special handling, can be immediately ground and stored either in bulk or in bags without liability of deterioration or destruction.

Other advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

l. The method of treating oil bearing proteinacious materials, comprising subjecting the material to increasing pressure in a continuously acting high pressure screw press to thereby separate oil from cake fragments which are at a temperature sufficiently high to cause deterioration, and without appreciable loss of heat immersing the hot cake fragments in water for a predetermined period to thereby simultaneously cool them and increase their moisture content.

2. The method of treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials. comprising subjecting the material to increasing pressure in a continuously acting high pressure screw press to thereby separate oil from cake fragments which are at a temperature sufficiently high to cause deterioration, and before appreciable loss-of heat immersing the hot cake fragments in water for a period of time sufficient to cool them to a safe temperature and increase their moisture content to from eight to twelve per cent.

3. The method of treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials, comprising subjecting the material to increasing pressure in a continuously acting high pressure screw press to thereby separate oil from cake fragments which are at a temperature sufficiently high to cause deterioration. and before appreciable loss of heat passing the hot cake fragments progressively through a water bath, to thereby simultaneously cool the cake fragments and increase their moisture content, and circulating the cooling water through cooling means, to maintain it at a temperature materially below that of-the cake fragments when discharged from the press.

4. Apparatus for treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials, comprising a high pressure screw press having a cake discharge opening, operating means for said press, and means associated with said press'to receive the cake discharged from said opening and arranged to subject the discharged cake before substantial loss of heat therefrom to a cooling medium to thereby prevent spontaneous cake decomposition.

5. Apparatus for treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials, comprising a high pressure screw press having a cake discharge opening, operating means for said press, and means associated with said press to receive the cake discharged from said opening and arranged to immerse the cake in a cool water bath to thereby simultaneously reduce its temperature to a safe value and increase its water content.

6. Apparatus for treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials, comprising a high pressure screw press having a cake discharge opening, operating means for said press, and means for cooling and moistening the cake, comprising a water containing vessel located adjacent to the press discharge opening and into the liquid in which the cake is discharged.

7. Apparatus for treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials, comprising a. high pressure screw press having a cake discharge opening, operating means for said press, means for cooling and moistening the cake, comprising a water containing vessel located adjacent to the press discharge opening and into the liquid in which the cake is discharged, and means for removing the cake from the liquid after the expiration of a predetermined period of time.

8. Apparatus for treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials, comprising a high pressure the same.

discharge opening and into the liquid in which the cake is discharged, and conveyer means for moving the cake through the liquid and ejecting it therefrom.

9. Apparatus for treating oil bearing proteinaceous materials, comprising a high pressure screw press having a cake discharge opening, operating means for said press, means for cooling and moistening the cake, comprising a water containing vessel located adjacent to the press discharge opening and into the liquid in which the cake is discharged, means for removing the cake from the liquid after the expiration of a predetermined period of time, and cooling means communicating with said vessel and through which the water may be circulated for cooling ORLIN S. ANDERSON. 

